Why Your Business Should Love Live Video

1.
Why your business should
love live
videoEmbracing video as a part of everyday working

2.
In a world where time is scarce, budgets are limited and
employees can work from anywhere – video communication
is invaluable.
It allows people to connect and collaborate face-to-face, regardless of
their location. With live video, nuances in expression become clearer.
Body language becomes more apparent. Ideas are shared instantly.
And, by minimising the chances of miscommunication, decisions can
be made much faster.
There is a genuine appetite for live video, both at home and in the
workplace. According to BlueJeans research, an overwhelming
85% of employees, across all age groups, say that video is now
a part of their everyday lives. And, while current uptake statistics
suggest the technology is being used more on a personal level
than a professional one, the status quo is quickly changing.
To demonstrate this, we’ve interviewed four champions of live
video to discover how video communication has transformed
their working lives.
85%
of employees, across all age
groups, say that video is now
a part of their everyday lives
It’s good to see you
Why your business should love live video
#lovelivevideo
02

3.
Thomas Valantin is a strong supporter of live video,
encouraging its use whenever possible.
His advocacy of the medium is evident: he no longer owns a
landline telephone and states that only 5% of his scheduled
meetings are audio based. This all comes as no surprise
considering he runs sales and customer success for Arkadin, a
unified communications provider.
With nearly two decades of experience in the telecoms industry,
Valantin has first-hand knowledge of how far video technology
has come. He has seen the technology mature, from a once basic
feature to a present day essential business tool.
He says: “A few years ago, video calls were awkward. A time
delay made asking questions difficult. Visuals were pixelated and
you were confined to making point-to-point calls. Video was so
restrictive that it was just easier to use a conference phone.”
Yet technological improvements have turned this upside down.
Since the launch of cloud-based live video services, quality,
affordability and ease-of-use have all vastly improved.
“Today, video calls have
become just as easy to
make as voice calls.”
Thomas Valantin
The Collaboration Specialist’s view
“A better way of working”
Who: Thomas Valantin
Role: Chief Commercial Officer
Company: Arkadin
Why your business should love live video
#lovelivevideo
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4.
“When you only had audio
calls, you couldn’t really
link a face to a name”
Thomas Valantin.
Better accessibility of live video communication has led to improved
business relationships. “I have hundreds of anecdotes where video
has enhanced a relationship,” says Valantin. “When you only had
audio calls, you couldn’t really link a face to a name. And then video
came into the mix. You had that ‘finally’ moment, finally I can see
you.”
Yet the advantages go beyond having a better emotional
connection. Modern live video services often come with a wealth of
features that make it ideal to use within a business context. Content
can be easily shared through screen sharing and dropping in
documents. Dual audio and video recording make catching up and
taking notes straightforward.
While Valantin is in the right position to be pioneering new ways
of working, demand from the general workforce seems to be
following his lead. According to research, nearly 75% of employees
agree that live video has the potential to transform the way they
communicate in the workplace. Beyond that, over a third of
employees want to see live video used more by their
organisation – over email, instant messaging and phone calls.
Why your business should love live video
#lovelivevideo
04

5.
While meetings are vital for a business, they can also be a
huge burden on people’s workloads.
Whether it’s the high frequency, tiresome length or topic irrelevance
– bad meetings are a common ailment in many organisations.
But all this is about to change, according to Rob Bamforth,
from leading analytics firm Quocirca. He believes live video
can transform the state of meetings for the better.
He envisages a not-too-distant future where ‘physical’ meetings
en masse are replaced with smaller, shorter video meetings.
As a result, content can be better tailored for the select few
involved, people will have more space to ask questions
and there will be no travel expenses incurred.
In Bamforth’s eyes, it becomes much easier to call a meeting
at shorter notice, allowing teams to discuss a project’s status
in real-time.
But it’s about more than just saving time and money. Live video
meetings can also save people’s brainpower. Bamforth explains
that by reducing the time delay that scheduling conflicts can
cause, employees no longer need to waste mental effort
revisiting old topics they initially discussed months ago, and then
had to shelve until their colleagues or clients became available.
In essence, live video communication has the potential to
significantly accelerate business responsiveness.
“As long as a style of
communication is concise,
consistent and users have
control, there’ll always be
a place for it”
Rob Bamforth
The Analyst’s view
“The future is in video”
Who: Rob Bamforth
Role: Principal Analyst, Business
Communications
Company: Quocirca
Why your business should love live video
#lovelivevideo
05

6.
Bamforth’s predictions align with BlueJeans’ research. An
overwhelming 70% of people believe live video will save time
spent in physical, face-to-face meetings in the next few years.
But does it have what it takes to completely replace telephone,
email, instant messaging, or any other contemporary tech-led
communication medium? Bamforth thinks not.
He explains that being concise is about communicating effectively
and briefly. Consistency is about interoperability – having
everything work well together – for all media, across all devices.
And control is about the user; what content can be displayed,
what background noises can be muted and who regulates
interruptions. So, while video won’t exactly phase out the
telephone anytime soon, these elements do put modern
day live video at the forefront of effective communication.
70%
of people believe live
video will save time spent
in physical, face-to-face
meetings in the next
few years.
Why your business should love live video
#lovelivevideo
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7.
Michael Geller is no stranger to forming business
relationships using live video.
He regularly meets with his international team and speaks
with clients based all over the world – yet can often be found
closer to home, spending time with his kids. For him, live video
communication has been invaluable in enabling him to work
effectively, as well as helping him to improve his overall work-
life balance.
Geller believes the visual nature of video has been instrumental
in helping him achieve remote working success.
He says, “Often, when there’s an issue, it’s too easy to skirt
around it via email or on the phone. With video, it’s much harder
to ignore. If I’m looking at you, I can detect from your body
language how you might be feeling, and this gives me a
better understanding of where you might be coming from.”
While Geller and his team are well aware of live video’s benefits,
not all companies have embraced the medium. According
to BlueJeans research, only 28% of people believe their
organisation is proactive enough when implementing live video.
“The last thing you want is
someone to jump in, have a
bad experience, and never
use it again”
Michael Geller
The Executive’s view
“The best business tool is the human face”
Who: Michael Geller
Role: VP of Global
Customer Success
Company: BlueJeans Network
Why your business should love live video
#lovelivevideo
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8.
“Encouraging the uptake
of video means having the
right strategy in place.”
Michael Geller
Geller believes this reluctance stems from a number of factors,
including camera shyness and aversion to change. However, he
also acknowledges a key reason is that video communication
can restrict multitasking, a habit many struggle to shake. Geller
notes that video calls on BlueJeans are only half as long as those
that are audio-based – indicating that when the face isn’t visible,
people are more likely to disengage and attempt other tasks. He
warns, “When you multi-task, you end up paying less attention
and the meeting becomes unproductive. As a result, you probably
need to call another meeting.”
Encouraging the uptake of video means having the right strategy
in place. Geller recommends that, after seeking employee
consultation, companies should let people step into the
technology slowly. And, as more people use it, the benefits will
quickly become apparent.
“Don’t try to make every meeting video-based from the get-go,”
he says, discussing the common problem of companies becoming
too eager for video. “Instead start with live videos perhaps once
a week. Then twice a week. Maybe use it internally, at first. Then
externally after that. Gradual progression is key,” Geller concludes.
Why your business should love live video
#lovelivevideo
08

9.
For Cleanaway, introducing live video has been almost too easy.
With avid support from the senior management team and a
pressing need to boost teamwork across the business – video has
become the go-to meeting tool for the Australia-wide company.
Despite the obvious benefit of video’s cost saving potential, it
was actually the chance to improve collaboration that pushed
the technology forward. “Even our CFO saw beyond the financial
savings,” John Thompson, Cleanaway’s CIO says.
“He’s a very personable guy, so a medium that allowed him to
look into people’s eyes and read their body language made a
huge difference.”
Prior to video communication, the business found that meetings
were extremely difficult to set up. No wonder, given the vast
landscape of Australia and Cleanaway’s 250 sites. “Our options
were either to spend a long time on a plane, and if that wasn’t
feasible, turn to a telephone call. We were less productive
because of that,” Thompson says.
“It’s the ideal medium to
generate team spirit and
promote bonding”
John Thompson
The Customer’s view
“Increased collaboration, increased productivity”
Who: John Thompson
Role: Chief Information Officer
Company: Cleanaway
Why your business should love live video
#lovelivevideo
09

10.
Video has proved to be a key step in driving Cleanaway
towards a more digital future. He states: “At the front-end of
our company a lot of people are fairly basic in their use of
technology. So being able to give them something so easy
to use in a business context is great at encouraging the
workforce to be more technically aware.”
While video is empowering collaboration between people,
technological innovation means Cleanaway will continue
to see more connectivity between devices. “I think the use
of video in the future will see us capturing data for other
purposes. We have over 2,500 vehicles on the street every
day. The opportunity to grab data with video technology
is enormous,” says Thompson. With more connectivity and
better collaboration between humans and machinery, the
future of the Cleanaway workplace looks bright.
“I think the use of video
in the future will see us
capturing data for
other purposes”
John Thompson
Why your business should love live video
#lovelivevideo
10

11.
Embrace the power of Live Video
As more of us use live video in our personal lives, it makes sense to bring
it further into the workplace.
From the newest start up to the largest corporations, video has the power
to bring about better efficiency, improved productivity and help to form
greater bonds between people.
Use the tool that’s changing the face of business, by communicating
face-to-face.
Find out more
Read how our customer Netflix has made live video integral to everyday
communication, providing high quality face-to-face connections and
supporting the company’s personal culture.
Why your business should love live video
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